Are we actually good or is it the schedule?

[LogGrad98]

I just love this team... I don't have much in the way of expectations. We are good and I think we have a high ceiling because of how many threes we produce and we have a volume scorer. We can beat elite teams in a game or two when we get hot... if we get on a streak who knows.

If DM keeps developing and we get a couple pieces that are good (don't need something amazing)... maybe hit on a pick or two... we are legit contenders. If not we will be very good for a period of a few years... Will be entertaining as hell and have tremendous dudes to root for... I'd love to see us win a title, but I'm not going to be miserable if we are a perennial 2nd round team with potential to get lucky. It takes luck to win a championship... it just does.

Good post. I would add it takes luck AND taking risks. We have control over the second part of that. And frankly, we just don't. I hope that changes soon.

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect. Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[LogGrad98]

In four games, there have been plenty of opportunities to see how the Jazz and OKC would fair in a game or a series, all things being equal. I saw OKC get the better of almost every volley of punches. There's no way anybody around here should be slighting them.... unless their homer goggles are surgically implanted.

Homer cyborg

 

[Deleted member 365]

OKC immediately improved by just dumping Melo.

Their young players (like Noah and Schroeder) are developing into very good role players.

I don’t understand how anyone could claim that they aren’t significantly better than last year regardless of what their record ends up being.

 

[Ron Mexico]

OKC immediately improved by just dumping Melo.

Their young players (like Noah and Schroeder) are developing into very good role players.

I don’t understand how anyone could claim that they aren’t significantly better than last year regardless of what their record ends up being.

So they improved but other teams in the West improved more? Is that the justification for having a worse record and a worse seed in the playoffs? Or just that they are not trying as hard this year? Almost every stat shows they are not better. They have a worse record, worse net rating, there net rating rank, and a lower ranking in the standings. I am having a hard time finding anything that says they are better that is measurable besides people just saying they are. People thought they were early in the year due to an easy schedule but now that its hard they have dropped below last year by every measurable stat.

I think they are worse because Westbrook regressed by a decent amount but his usage has gone up. But I guess I could see an argument that they improved but other teams including the Jazz improved more.

 

[Kyoto]

The Thunder have lost 10 of there last 14 games! I use to like watching the Thunder as well as Westbrook.....but recently they have played like diddly squat and have become unwatchable! I don't think they'd win one game against us right now in a 7 game series!

I knew they were going to start tanking in the second half of the season. They had a super easy schedule for the most part up until then, now they have one of the hardest schedules in the league.

 

[Sandman822]

Jazz won't beat OKC in a playoff series unless PG's shoulder issue is lingering through to the playoffs. The nice thing about their end of season tank is that we probably won't see them in the 1st round which is nice.

 

[jom2003]

The difference between us and the Nuggets is that Malone is actually willing to sub Jokic out of the game in the clutch for defensive plays, whereas Snyder is always gonna play Gobert over Favs no matter what.

How many times have we seen Gobert crashing/trying to crash the glass after DM missing tough contested layups in the paint in the clutch? Kudos to him on the effort, but DM likely wouldn't miss those looks has Gobert not being down there packing the paint. Favors isn't much of a floor spacer by any means, but he has a reliable midrange game that the defender has to pay respect to, which would allow DM to have better angles to attack the basket.

 

[NUMBERICA]

The difference between us and the Nuggets is that Malone is actually willing to sub Jokic out of the game in the clutch for defensive plays, whereas Snyder is always gonna play Gobert over Favs no matter what.

How many times have we seen Gobert crashing/trying to crash the glass after DM missing tough contested layups in the paint in the clutch? Kudos to him on the effort, but DM likely wouldn't miss those looks has Gobert not being down there packing the paint. Favors isn't much of a floor spacer by any means, but he has a reliable midrange game that the defender has to pay respect to, which would allow DM to have better angles to attack the basket.

I don’t think that particular aspect is true. DM has to hit Faves with the pass, and a mid-range jumper has to be the right play (which it stastically isn’t, and the Jazz never hunt for those shots).

I know Favors is playing great, but let’s not get carried away by recency bias. Favors should play over Gobert sometimes, but Gobert is the rock of this team. Nobody on this roster is game-in and game-out as reliable.

 

[jom2003]

I don’t think that particular aspect is true. DM has to hit Faves with the pass, and a mid-range jumper has to be the right play (which it stastically isn’t, and the Jazz never hunt for those shots).

I know Favors is playing great, but let’s not get carried away by recency bias. Favors should play over Gobert sometimes, but Gobert is the rock of this team. Nobody on this roster is game-in and game-out as reliable.

So is Jokic. But that doesn't bother with Malone when he brings in Plumlee every time when they have to make a defensive stop in the clutch. I mean Jokic is fine defensively in general. And so is Gobert offensively, but their limitation will show when the opponents up their intensity in the clutch when every possession matters. The Jazz are 0-7 this season when games were decided by 3 pts or less, meaning one more scoring possession would’ve changed the outcome of those games completely. And we've been coming up short simply because Quin isn't willing to make those subtle adjustments to the lineup on a possession by possession basis. And bringing in korver in the last second for some desperation attempts when the game has already slipped away isn't gonna cut it.

 

[carolinajazz]

Well, tonight is the litmus test! We've had a day off to rest, we play a chump team loaded with clowns. We got beat by the Hawks because they hit 20 three pointers and we still almost won the game. I say if we win this game by 20 points then we will have passed the litmus test, indicating we are not a fluke but ready for that 1st round and then some!

 

[cowhide]

The Jazz are a good team but they aren't NBA championship caliber. They are too inconsistent. Another alarming trend is blowing big leads. How far they go most likely will be determined by the matchup they get. I can see them winning a series but I could see them losing in round 1 too. To go farther than round 1 they need everyone to play at their best which rarely happens. Until they find another offensive star they don't have enough talent to compete with GS or Houston.